ndia ( /ndi/), officially the Republic of India (Bhrat Ga arjya),[12][c] is a country in South Asia.

It
i

is theseventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion
people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south,
the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders
with Pakistan to the west;[d] China, Nepal, andBhutan to the north-east; and Burma
(Myanmar) and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and
the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border
withThailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires,
the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long
history.[13] Four religionsHinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhismoriginated here,
whereas Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic religionsof Judaism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in
the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and
brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century
and administered directly by the United Kingdom after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, India became an
independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent
resistance led byMahatma Gandhi.
The Indian economy is the world's seventh-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing
power parity(PPP).[9] Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of
the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it
continues to face the challenges of poverty,corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare,
and terrorism. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing
army in the world and ranks ninth in military expenditure among nations. India is
afederal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 29 states and 7
union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and a multi-ethnic society. It is also home to a
diversity of wildlife in a variety ofprotected habitats.
Contents
[hide]

1 Etymology

2 History
o

2.1 Ancient India

2.2 Medieval India

2.3 Early modern India

2.4 Modern India

3 Geography

4 Biodiversity

5 Politics
o

5.1 Government

5.2 Subdivisions

6 Foreign relations and military

7 Economy

8 Demographics

9 Culture
o

9.1 Art and architecture

9.2 Literature

9.3 Performing arts

9.4 Motion pictures, television

9.5 Society

9.6 Clothing

9.7 Sports

10 See also

11 Notes

12 References

13 Bibliography

14 External links

Etymology
Mai article: Names of Idia

The name Idia is derived from Idus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hidu. The latter
term stems from the Sanskrit word Sidhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus
River.[14] The ancient Greeksreferred to the Indians as Idoi (), which translates as "the people of
the Indus".[15]
The geographical term Bharat (pronounced [bartt] (

listen)),

which is recognised by the Constitution of

India as an official name for the country,[16] is used by many Indian languages in its variations.
The eponym of Bharat is Bharata, a theological figure that Hindu scriptures describe as a legendary
emperor of ancient India.
Hidusta ([ndt sttan] (

listen))

was originally a Persian word that meant "Land of the Hindus";

prior to 1947, it referred to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan. It is occasionally
used to solely denote India in its entirety.[17][18]

History
Mai articles: History of Idia ad History of the Republic of Idia

Ancient India
The earliest authenticated human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago.[19] Nearly
contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian
subcontinent, including at theBhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh.[20] Around 7000 BCE, the
first known Neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in
western Pakistan.[21] These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation,[22] the first urban
culture in South Asia;[23] it flourished during 25001900 BCE in Pakistan and western India along the
river valleys of Indus and Sarasvati.[24] Centred on cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira,
and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in
crafts production and wide-ranging trade.[23]

Map of Vedic period.

During the period 2000500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned
from the Chalcolithic to theIron Age.[25] The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,[26] were
composed during this period,[27] and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in
the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.[25] Most historians also consider this period to have

encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent.[28][26] The caste
system arose during this period, which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, free peasants and
traders, and lastly the indigenous peoples who were regarded as impure; and small tribal units
gradually coalesced into monarchical, state-level polities.[29][30] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological
evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation. [25] In
southern India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number
of megalithic monuments dating from this period,[31] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture,
irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.[31]

Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century

In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of
the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and
monarchies that were known as the mahajaapadas.[32][33] The emerging urbanisation and the
orthodoxies of this age also created heterodox religious movements, two of which became
independent religions. Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted followers
from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to
the beginnings of recorded history in India.[34][35][36] Jainism came into prominence during the life of its
exemplar, Mahavira.[37] In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as
an ideal,[38] and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE,
the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.
[39]

The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south,

but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas. [40][41] The
Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public
life as forAshoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.[42][43]
The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the
southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that
traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and South-East Asia.[44][45] In North India,
Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women.
[46][39]

By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created in the greater Ganges Plain a

complex system of administration and taxation that became a model for later Indian kingdoms. [47]

[48]

Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual

began to assert itself.[49] The renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture andarchitecture, which
found patrons among an urban elite.[48] Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian
science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematicsmade significant advances.[48]

Medieval India

The granite tower ofBrihadeeswarar Temple inThanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I.

The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural
diversity.[50] When Harsha ofKannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE,
attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by theChalukya ruler of the Deccan.[51] When his
successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king ofBengal.[51] When the
Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south,
who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south.[51] No ruler of this
period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region.
[50]

During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing

agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling
classes.[52] The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.[52]
In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language.[53] They
were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of
all modern languages of the subcontinent.[53] Indian royalty, big andsmall, and the temples they
patronised, drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as
well.[54]Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another
urbanisation.[54] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, as South Indian
culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modernday Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Java.[55] Indian
merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians
took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and
Hindu texts into their languages.[55]

After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising
vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains,
leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206.[56] The sultanate was
to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive
for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws
and customs.[57][58] By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved
India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries
of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region
into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north. [59][60] The
sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the
indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.[61] Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the
military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India, [62] and was
to influence South Indian society for long afterwards. [61]